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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   3635 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 14, 2024

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If you could choose anywhere in the US to settle down, where would it be and why (ignoring job/family ties for present purposes)? I'm thinking of making a move and have a preference for proximity to major urban centers and despise humid weather. Unfortunately, (maybe I've spent too much time online) recent news on crime and the like has got me feeling rather bearish on the futures of NYC, LA, Chicago, and SF.

Flagstaff. College town, beautiful nature, dry, but not too hot. I could theoretically try something in Utah, but as much as I agree with the Mormons on various profane topics, I can't get over the fact that their practices are derived from doubly silly stuff.

With your preferences, probably Boise or San Antonio. SLC is also plausible and has nicer nature within a couple hours’ drive, but might be a harder cultural fit.

Deep in the Rocky Mountains.

No idea, I've never been over the pond.

If we're ignoring job/family ties then Hawaii, it's got the nicest weather in the nation.

Month by month these are probably my favorite places:

December to February in Key West for the weather and diving.

March to June in NYC.

July to Labor Day in Vermont, New Hampshire or somewhere else mountainous in New England, for the hiking and some riding. Love Bretton Woods / Mount Washington especially with family.

September to October in NYC. Probably the best time of year in the city.

November in Los Angeles. LA is the epitome of a certain imagination of America, and I kind of love it, although never for more than a few weeks at once.

Hard to do with kids though, so if I had them I’d probably live in an affluent town somewhere in California an hour or two outside either SF or LA (Easy A always makes Ojai look good, but I’d probably pick somewhere in wine country). That or NYC.

If it's hot, dry weather you want, you can't do better than Phoenix or Tucson (if you like mild winters), or Salt Lake City, Boise or Denver (if you like snow and cold winters).

All of these places' housing prices have spiked in the last few years and all have homeless problems in the downtown areas, but tell me a US city that doesn't.

I actually did make this decision about five years ago, and chose to move to Cincinnati. Lovely old architecture everywhere, baseball, strong drinking culture, great museums. Cool German heritage and related huge Oktoberfests. Temperate four-season climate and the winters are not really severe. Everything is cheap, and yet it's not a big dumpster fire like other places where that's true. I love it here.

If I had it to do over, I might make the same choice. Other places I've been to and would consider are:

Wheeling, WV Owensboro, KY Pittsburgh, PA

I suppose if nothing else, I've found the region that I like best. (And I'm not from this part of the country.) I have lived in other, bigger cities and had a less good time in general.

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